Have you ever felt like a movie has just reached into your soul, scraped out every piece of your identity, and just made it into a beautiful piece of art? For me that movie is Tron: Legacy. It is the movie I most identify with on an artistic level. Every visual and audible decision made in this movie speaks to me. It's my guilty pleasure and in a few ways it is my favorite movie to watch.
Of course the biggest reason why is the dynamic score by the one and only forefathers of the electronic revolution, Daft Punk. It really can't be understated how much this duo means to me. They are my genesis when it comes to music, the tree from which all other roots originate. The Daft Punk soundtrack never stops electrifying throughout the whole film. Daft Punk are experts at creating narratives as their albums progress and this composition is no different. To be able to shape it around an actual feature length film is one of my dreams come true. The soundtrack embellishes every scene that its a part of and makes it feel so grandiose. It's a cliched definition at this point but it really is just so epic.
The dialogue is clunky at times and the acting from background players isn't always stellar, but the true genius of the film is the aesthetic. The look and the feel of the film is the thing that keeps me coming back. It's so appealing in its future-punk, neon dipped stylishness, that I can't help but be unapologetic in love with it. It's like this movie's look was cultivated just for me.
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| My dream vacation destination. |
Once Garrett Hedlund's "Sam" is transported to the picturesque techno landscape that is, The Grid, the inventive virtual scenery really starts to shine. Everyone is draped in ornamental gleaming LED synthetics that really pop against the dark stormy backdrop that looms in the distance of The Grid.
Let's just get it out of the way now. Jeff Bridges De-aged doppelganger named "CLU" looks pretty bad, but remember this film is from 2010 and was one of the first few movies that utilized the De-aging tech. While Bridges looks slightly off putting, venturing into Uncanny Valley from time to time, you have to respect the effort. Remember when CGI was coming into popularity? A lot of it was dreadful. New ideas takes bravery and confidence to pull off, and I respect the willingness to just go for it. Whether you agree with the tech or not, there is no mistaking that it's a valuable tool in future storytelling.
The actual Jeff Bridges has distilled himself into a techno-gatsby version of "The Dude" from Big Lebowski uttering phrases such as "bio-digital jazz, man." and "knocking on the sky." my personal favorite being, "A digital frontier to reshape the human condition." It's tremendous. The Dude is one of my all-time favorite movie characters and to see him resurrected in this format is a fantasy come to fruition. His acting really is quite powerful in the film. A sort of demi-god of The Grid, he plays a religious yogi-esque monk rather admirably. Talking in a soft wisdom of the world he helped create, it doesn't come off as pretentious or smug. Bridges really is one of the best living actors we have.
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| The Bio-Digital Jazz really ties the room together man. |
The action is stimulating and rhythmical, like watching a kung-fu battle break out at a rave. When a program is killed or as its known in this movie "Derezzed" they break into satisfying pixelated bits. It all feels so stylish. Shout out to Michael Sheen as "Zuse" he steps into the film for around 10 minutes and just has such a great heat check performance. His frantic, eccentric energy really give the film more life and I just wanted to highlight it. Also it can't really be argued that Daft Punk has the greatest cameo in movie history.
The films conclusion really is quite emotional and hits especially hard. Watching the journey between a father and son has always had an effect on me regardless of the movie, but this journey is especially poignant. Whenever the beginning notes of "Son of Flynn" starts playing I can immediately feel the stinging of tears in the corners of my eyes. It might sound surprising about a movie that takes place inside a computer simulation, but this movie does have heart. If that doesn't convince you to see it then perhaps this will. The film really is a two hour long Daft Punk music video and if that doesn't sway you then maybe it's not for you, which is fine.
It just means we can't be friends.
Quick story: The first time I ever did mushrooms I had decided I was going to watch a movie while on them. I could only think of one movie to watch, you guessed it, Tron: Legacy. It was nothing short of a religious experience, I healthy cried through pretty much all of it. I still think about it every time I watch it. Frankly, that might be the best analysis I can come up with for this movie. Let it be the movie you watch the first time you do mushrooms.
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